CHARLOTTE, NC

Two Canadian students were declared winners of the 12th Annual Intl. Phoenix Challenge Flexo Skills Competition, which took place at Harper National Flexographic Ctr. at Central Piedmont Community College April 1-3.

Two and a half days of intense competition culminated in a first-place award and $1,000 scholarships each for Hannah Plavnick and Stephanie Hammond, the team from Gordon Graydon Memorial Secondary School, Mississauga, ON. The pair earned the highest combined scores in five exams: written knowledge, math, prepress proficiency, press operation, and platemaking.

Brittney Skinner and Brandon Smith, students from the Fairfield Career & Technology Ctr. in Winnsboro, SC, won second-place honors, while Abdul Murad and Grant Izukawa, also from Graydon Secondary School won third place, competing against 20 teams.

Founded in 1998, the Phoenix Challenge Foundation is an all-volunteer not-for-profit organization of industry professionals dedicated to the development of the future workforce for flexography. For more information visit www.phoenixchallenge.org.